Give Love on Christmas Day
by heartlandiansoisle
Summary: Sets after season 10, but no big spoilers beyond 10x09. Characters: Amy, Ty, the baby, Jack, Lisa, Lou, Peter, Mitch, Georgie, Adam (kind of), Katie, Tim, Casey, Jade, Caleb and Cassandra.
1. Chapter 1

+1′C would have been perfectly cold enough for any other day, but for Katie Fleming Morris it was not enough on Christmas Eve. She had hoped for a white Christmas, but despite few snowfalls during the week, no snow had stayed on the ground, and currently, as she looked outside through her bedroom window, it looked grey and gloomy as if it was early November.

This did not please the little girl.

Not only was the white cover magical in her eyes, but no snow on the ground made her worry about the real issues at hand.

"Lisa, if there's no snow, how can Santa make it to Heartland?" Katie asked as she turned from the window back to her grandmother, Lisa Stillman, who was going through her phone.

The woman looked up from her cell, taken aback by her granddaughter's question, and wondered how could she possibly explain it to Katie without giving away the secret and making it too unrealistic for her - as in some weird way flying reindeer probably sounded much more believable for Katie than Santa driving a truck.

"Well, you know… Santa has his ways," Lisa said briefly, putting up a weak smile, hoping the girl would be done with the questions with that.

But Lisa had worries of her own which probably didn't make it seem assuring enough, as Katie continued: "What do you mean…?"

"I mean, I don't want you to worry," she explained a little further, as gently as she could. "He'll get the presents here one way or another," Lisa said, hoping that she was right - for personal reasons as well.

At the moment, a big stash of her own Christmas shopping was on their way to Heartland - or, well, should have been - but unfortunately, as she was told, they were currently stuck in customs. Lisa was trying her best to get them here where they were supposed to be, but right now her attempts to contact anyone who knew anything seemed desperate.

As she looked back at Katie, who had again turned back to the window, Lisa pressed her cell phone to her ear and tried to call another number that she had just been given by someone at customer services.

If "Santa" didn't make it here, Katie's Christmas would be ruined.

* * *

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jack Bartlett was preparing his famous stuffing for the Christmas turkey. As per usual, he was in charge of the turkey, while the others helped with the rest of the chores. Some of the food was coming from Maggie's Christmas serving this year, as his granddaughter and one of the diner owners Lou Fleming and her daughter Georgie Fleming-Morris were working in town, handing out food for the poor and trying to spread the Christmas spirit, thus leaving less time for Lou to spend at Heartland to help her grandfather.

Jack didn't mind, in fact, he loved having the kitchen to himself, as he didn't have to worry about the hustle these kind of big family dinners usually brought with them.

Not to mention he was proud of Lou for arranging something like this. Christmas wasn't about the material, but the kindness of the heart for Jack Bartlett.

And maybe a little bit about the best turkey in the world.

Some thanks for the Maggie's Christmas happenings went to a family friend, Jade Virani and her sponsors at Chuck Wagon. The girl had made it possible for Maggie's and ChuckWagon to work together to help those who were not as fortunate as other families were at Christmas.

But Jack's moments of serenity were soon gone as his ex-son-in-law - emphasis on the word EX - Tim Fleming stepped inside the ranch house, doors blazing, with his girlfriend Casey McMurtry.

"I got it, I got it!" Tim tried to argue when he and Casey were getting into the mud room and the door was giving him and his sore shoulder tough time.

Casey backed off, but kept eye on her man. Tim had been grumpy ever since he had injured his shoulder - again - by putting on Christmas lights outside and then taking an empty step back down from the ladder, resulting him falling off and, of course, landing of on his bad shoulder. He was now back to wearing a sling and bellyaching about it.

Casey figured the bad mood had to do with the fact that Tim could not - or more like refused - to take any medication and that's why he was in constant pain. She understood his decision, after all he had come clean about his past with mixing drugs and alcohol, and taking pain relief was always a risk for any addict, even if they had been clean for years.

Casey decided that despite Tim's mood, their entrance would have to be more cheerful one as they were guests in the Heartland house. Tim might not have manners, but she did, so when they were properly inside, she said: "Merry Christmas!"

"Well, hello," Jack said delightfully, mincing an onion for the stuffing by the sink. "Good to see you, Casey," he continued, smiling and looking how she was helping Tim with his coat. "And how's the patient…?" he had to ask, even though he could pretty much guess the answer already.

"You know this your fault, right?" Tim chimed in, "If it wasn't for you and that stupid turkey of yours, I wouldn't have fallen down the ladder."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, Merry Christmas to you too… Nice to see you in such good Christmas spirits. – You know I had to get the turkey when I asked you to put up the lights - and besides, you could have said no, anyway; I would have just asked Mitch to put them up instead. – And how is it my fault that you don't watch where you're going?"

"And you're telling me this now…?" Tim scoffed, acting like a martyr. "This is what I get for being helpful?" he continued, now making his way to the kitchen. "I get nothing… Besides pain!"

"I feel the same way…" Jack mumbled to himself.

"Sorry about the Grinch, Jack…" Casey followed Tim's steps, wanting to apologize for him, because even though she knew that this was typical for these two men, she didn't like this kind of mood shadowing Christmas.

"I'm used to it," Jack said, appreciating Casey's efforts anyway, "so don't worry about it."

"Anything I can help you with?" Casey offered, watching the many bowls and ingredients laid out on the table. "I'm not much of a cook, but… I'm sure there's at least something I can do. – Doesn't have to be cooking."

"Well, not really," Jack said. He had his system and he didn't want anyone to spoil it for him. "Although… you could go help Caleb. He's out there in the barn", the man explained, gesturing to the barn's general direction, "saddling up a horse so he can go and get the Christmas tree. I'm sure he could use the company, especially since Cassandra still hasn't gotten here. He said something about her working at the clinic."

"And what about you? Will you promise to get along if I leave you two alone?" she asked, gently squeezing Tim's other shoulder. The man sighed, acting as if Casey's question was ridiculous.

"We'll be alright. And if not, Lisa's in the other room. She'll keep us in check," Jack answered, making Casey chuckle.

"Alright then", Casey said, giving Tim's cheek a kiss. "You - behave."

"I will," Tim replied, glancing over his shoulder as he watched Casey leave, but then complaining due to the pain and turning back toward Jack to help him ease it. "I thought I was done with this damn sling, I even had the surgery - and now this…" he hissed.

"I know, but you can't blame me. It was your own fault," Jack pointed out, putting down the knife and scooping the onions into a bowl.

"Grandad!" Katie's voice reached them from the living room, making Tim look at her direction.

The little girl bounced toward Tim and was ready to climb on his lap, when he had to stop her. "Woah, hey! Sorry, honey, but I can't hug you right now… Because, well, you see this sling? Grandad hurt himself." He pointed his finger toward it.

"You did…?" Katie looked worried, stepping back from him.

Tim nodded, "Uh-huh."

"I could get my medicine kit and treat you better," she offered.

"You do that, hun…" Tim smiled a little and watched as Katie ran off. She almost knocked down Lisa on her way back to her room.

"No running in the house!" Lisa reminded her and watched where she was going. When she noticed that Katie was just off to her own room, Lisa turned her gaze back to her phone, walking to the kitchen at the same time. "Hey, Tim."

"Hey," Tim replied.

"How's it going with the mail service?" Jack asked as he put the celery on his cutting board and started chopping.

"Not great… Everyone is off work, naturally, so it's next to impossible to track down these presents," she sighed heavily.

She looked so beaten, that Tim's curiosity grew. "What are you talking about?"

"Lisa ordered pretty much all of her presents online and they still haven't gotten here. It's getting a bit too close to the chalk lines, if you ask me," Jack explained.

"Can't you just go into town and buy everyone something else?" Tim suggested, turning back to Lisa.

"I used a lot of time picking those things, I'm not going to give people presents just because I can afford to get them seconds," Lisa protested, "And it's just not the same… Not to mention, nothing's open now."

She tried to go through the numbers again she had received again, even though she knew it was hopeless.

But she couldn't not try either.

"This is why you should never do this kind of shopping online," Tim started talking to Jack, keeping his voice lower now that Lisa was on the phone. "Remember what happened to Lou's wedding dress? It was a disaster!"

"Oh, I remember… But do you remember who saved the day?" Jack replied, glancing at Lisa who was walking aimlessly in the kitchen and biting the end of her thumbnail as she was hoping someone would pick up. "That woman right there. I have faith that she will figure something out," he continued, smiling proudly while thinking about his wife.


	2. Chapter 2

"Georgie?" Lou tried to get Georgie's attention as she returned the coffee pot to the coffee maker after serving a few people coffee and pancakes. The girl was leaning over the serving counter at Maggie's while going through her phone. "I'm not paying you to slack off."

"You're not paying me at all, remember?" Georgie reminded her, even though Lou was completely aware of it.

Today was for charity, and Lou was hoping that through this experience, Georgie would be able to realize what Christmas really was about. The girl had given her a long list of expensive things she wanted for Christmas earlier this month, and after Lou's initial shock had worn off, she had realized maybe she was to blame for that.

She and Peter had always spoiled the girls with all things nice, but maybe that had been the wrong way to parent the kids, especially considering the fact that when Georgie had been adopted, she had not really cared about new clothes or riding equipment, as long as she could be with horses and do whatever she wanted.

But ever since joining the Extreme Team, Georgie had been going through some changes and was starting to pick up some of the habits other teenagers her age had. She was beginning to realize more about the prize and status of the things Lou had given her, eventually getting hungrier and asking for more. At first it had been harmless, but the more it went on, the more expensive the things she asked for were.

Now that Georgie had a job at the diner and she was making her own money, Lou was hoping that she would realize that the money she wanted or the prices of those items she asked weren't just numbers coming from nothing. Lou and Peter had earned their money with hard labor, and it was something Lou wanted Georgie to learn too.

Besides, Georgie would hopefully appreciate the items even more if she had made the money herself and reached the goal all by herself.

"That is beside the point," Lou replied to Georgie's snarky comment. "Come on, I didn't ask you to be here so you could play with your phone the whole day."

"I know, it's just… Adam being away with his family in Toronto, kind of makes the whole Christmas thing less exciting. I miss him so much already…" Georgie sighed, dropping her phone to the pocket of her apron and then picking up where she had left off with cleaning the tables.

"I know, but that's just the way it is when you're young; you don't always get to spend time with your boyfriend because they have their own family too," Lou explained, making another pot of coffee, ready for when she would be finished serving the tables, "and besides, maybe it's good to spend some time apart for a change. Makes seeing each other even more exciting."

"Yeah, I guess," Georgie sighed. "Any word on dad?"

Lou pulled out her own cellphone to see if there had been any messages from her ex-husband Peter Morris. But when there was no sign of him, Lou decided to give him a call. He should have been on his way from Vancouver by now if he wanted to make it to Hudson in time.

"I'll call him and ask. If he doesn't answer, he's on a plane," Lou explained to Georgie, simultaneously walking toward the window to see how Jade was doing with the customers and the soup she was serving in front of Maggie's.

As she listened to the dialing sound, she noticed Mitch Cutty, Heartland's ranch hand, at the other side of the road with a big Salvation Army kettle. Things between him and her had been weird ever since they had met. There was definitely something between them, but the timing just never seemed right for anything to develop. That's why Lou had kind of been avoiding him, which had been made even easier with her trips to New York that had kept her busy all year long.

"Hey, Lou," she eventually heard from the other end of the line. It was Peter.

Even though they were divorced by now, Lou still wanted Peter to be there for the girls and not make it weird by them choosing "sides" on a family holiday. And she didn't mind Peter either, even though they were no longer carrying a torch for each other. It seemed like things had calmed down between them and they were able to act civil around each other despite being ex-partners, so having Peter around would not really make any difference to her Christmas either way.

But for Katie and Georgie, it did.

"Peter, hi. How's it going? You aren't on a plane yet?" Lou said, trying to bring back her thoughts from Mitch to Peter.

"Yeah, about that…" Peter's voice said on the other end. Lou could hear the calls for flights at the background and it sounded like he was still at the airport. "It seemed like they overbooked the plane and offered me another flight, but if I take that, I'm not able to make it in time. So, I was thinking I would just rent a car and drive there."

"But Peter, that's over 10 hours' drive…?" Lou pointed out.

"I know, I know, but at least I'd be saving few hours with it," Peter explained. "I just… I can't just sit here and wait. I need to do something. We promised the girls I'd be there and I wanna be there. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get to you."

"Okay… Well, you do what you gotta do. Just… get here," Lou said, her eyes drifting back to Mitch as she couldn't help it.

"I will. Give my love for the girls, will you?"

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

"So…?" Georgie asked as she noticed Lou had ended the call. The woman almost jumped up, thinking she had been caught staring at Mitch again, so to recover, she turned around and tried to act normal by bringing her attention to her daughter.

"Your dad will come, just maybe a little later than expected," Lou let Georgie know, "there was problem with the flight."

"There's always a problem with the flight," Georgie hummed, rolling her eyes. This was very typical for Peter but it was getting old for her.

"He's doing everything he can to get to you, you know that, right?" Lou felt like defending Peter from Georgie's apathetic attitude. Even though they were not married anymore, Peter was still Georgie's father and he deserved to be respected, especially because he really was trying his best with what he had been given.

"Yeah, yeah…" Georgie said, taking a pile of dishes to the kitchen, but it didn't seem like she really got it.

Lou sighed and put her cellphone aside, deciding she would make another round with the coffee to make sure everyone was taken care of in true spirit of the Christmas.

* * *

Inside the Heartland barn, Ty was feeding the horses while Amy was trying to soothe the crying infant. The horses were getting restless by the sound of the crying baby, but Amy had not been able to stay upstairs alone with him any longer.

The baby had been crying throughout the night and the whole morning, and Ty and Amy had been taking turns with trying to get him calm. He had fell asleep out of exhaustion every now and then, but neither Ty nor Amy liked that the baby had to exhaust himself to sleep in order to get some sleep in the first place. And soon enough, he was awake, crying again, repeating the vicious cycle like there was no end.

"Okay, your turn, Ty, I can't take him crying any longer. It makes me feel like a horrible mother," Amy said, her own exhaustion clearly visible on her face and in her voice as it trembled as she spoke.

"Amy, it's nothing personal," Ty stated, setting down the bucket he was holding and then extending his arms to get a hold of the baby, "he's just crying because something's wrong."

"But shouldn't I be able to figure out what it is that's wrong? I've checked his diaper, like million times, it's not that. I've tried to feed him, but he refuses to eat. And if it's about the sleep, I wish he could just sleep already…" Amy replied, almost in tears. This motherhood thing was nothing like she had imagined it to be, she felt so helpless. "I don't know what to do…"

"Have you tried to burp him?" Ty asked, pressing the baby against his shoulder and soothing him with long strokes on his back.

"He hasn't eaten anything, so…" Amy said, shrugging, feeling like maybe she should have tried that as it was obviously something Ty thought of right away. But she usually only did that after the baby had eaten and since he had not, it had not been something Amy had thought to do.

There was so much she still needed to figure out and thinking about that was only making her feel more exhausted.

"Maybe he's gassy? Have you noticed if he's belly sticks out now?" Ty tried to figure it out.

"His belly always sticks out?" Amy said.

"Yeah, a little," he knew that too because he had given him so many butterfly kisses, "but between feedings, it should be quite soft," Ty continued, making his way to the barn office.

Amy followed right after him and looked as Ty gently laid the crying baby on the office table, on the blanket Amy had wrapped around him. Ty started feeling his belly and based on the look on his face, he seemed concerned.

"What is it…?" Amy asked.

"His tummy feels swollen and hard…" Ty explained as he was examining the baby.

"What could that mean…?" Amy was beginning to wonder if there was cause for alarm.

Ty looked like he was pondering something. "It could be gas or constipation, but it also could signal of an intestinal problem."

"See? You're a doctor, you know this stuff, I don't…" Amy sighed, both disappointed that she didn't seem to contribute much to this baby business and at the same time relieved that at least one of them knew what they were doing.

"I'm a vet, Amy, that's not the same thing as being a doctor. Besides, I'm making this up as I go, I might not even be right, but just based on how I would examine an animal… I'd say that what that is," Ty said, picking up the baby again, "I think we should call our pediatrician. Can you hold him while I make the call?"

"Yeah…" Amy said, taking the baby back to her arms while Ty pulled out his cellphone.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's a shame Ty and Amy had to go to the hospital. I hope everything's okay with the baby," Lisa spoke as she was helping Jack by washing the dishes. The man himself was taking the unstuffed turkey out of the oven, looking like he was puzzled about something.

"Yeah… Better be safe than sorry when it comes to stuff like that…" he murmured while turning the switches of the oven. "Isn't this oven supposed to have a light on when it's heating the food…?"

"I think so," Lisa said, drying her hands so she could help Jack with the switches. The man had had the same oven for years now, so she figured he would have known the ins and outs of it by now, but sometimes small things went by him and he realized he had made some silly little mistake - or more like she would be the one to help him figure that out. Maybe that was what was going on this time too, "Let me see."

Jack allowed Lisa to take over, as she was so good with the kitchen supplies and cooking overall. Meanwhile he was checking the turkey.

"This turkey has been in the oven for over four hours now and it does not look like how it's supposed to…" Jack said, evidently upset that this was not going how he had planned. He nailed this every year, so he knew exactly what he was doing, it wasn't his fault that the turkey was not as done as it should have been. There was something wrong with the oven.

"I think your oven is broken…" Lisa stated at the same time, knowing that Jack was not going to like what he was hearing.

And just like Lisa predicted, Jack slammed his hands against the table, frustrated that he had come across a problem this size.

"Did you just say the oven is broken…?" Tim asked from the living room couch where he was being examined by Dr. Katie. "Ha! Must be the karma of Jack letting me get on those ladders only to hurt myself."

Jack gave him a deadly glare, even if he couldn't even see it, not dignifying his ridiculing with a response.

"The oven in the loft," he realized the solution, "I suppose I could borrow it. It's not like Ty and Amy are using it."

"Yeah, that could work," Lisa agreed, "Let's get the turkey to the loft. Here, I'll help you."

* * *

Casey shut the stall door of Phoenix's stall when she and Caleb were done with the horses after their ride to the woods. There was a big Christmas tree waiting for them outside the barn and all there was to do now was getting it inside the house.

Caleb returned Buddy's brushes back to their place and after that he decided to check on his phone. Casey walked up to him, looking at his longing face.

But before she could say anything to him, Jack and Lisa swooped by with what seemed to be like a turkey. Casey raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner, but all she got back was a wave of a hand from Lisa and a simple: "Don't ask."

When the elderly couple were up in the loft, Casey brought her attention back to Caleb.

"Any word on Cass?" Casey asked, guessing it was probably what Caleb was thinking about. He had talked about Cassandra being at work while they had been on the ride to get the tree, and it seemed like he really wanted to spend the Christmas together, but because of Cassandra's line of work, it was starting to look impossible for them.

"No. I just don't get it… She's been working three Christmases in a row now, I don't know why anyone else can't take the shift? I mean, maybe I get Ty, he has a baby to think about now, but what about Scott? They should switch it up, it's just not fair to Cass to be stuck at work for the whole of Christmas," Caleb said with evident frustration all over his face.

He put his phone back to his jeans' pocket and started to head out so they could get the tree where it was supposed to be.

"Yeah, I get it," Casey replied, "Christmas is about being the ones you love. But… have you ever considered that she might have volunteered to work on Christmas…?"

Caleb stopped and turned out. He had to admit that thought had never crossed his mind, but why would Cass request to handle the most unwanted shift?

"Why would she do that?" Caleb shook his head a little, "it makes no sense."

"I don't know," Casey shrugged, "just a thought. – Come on, let's get this tree inside. I was thinking we should try taking it from the side door, you know, the one by Jack's room. That way we don't have to make so many turns," she thought out loud while Caleb was still not over what she had just suggested about Cassandra, so most of her instructions went over his head.

* * *

At Maggie's, Jade walked inside the diner and rubbed her hands together, then blowing warm air into them in attempts to feel her fingers again. She had been standing out for hours now, handing out soup for the less fortunate and while it was nice to help out in a very concrete way, she didn't like the cold that was starting to make its way under her skin.

"It's freezing out there! I can't feel my toes anymore," Jade said as she walked up to Georgie who was smelling some flowers by the counter. The younger girl was smiling so much that she could see her dimples. Something special was going on. "Are those for you, or something?"

"Yeah, Adam sent them," Georgie said with a grin and handed the card to Jade. She had just received the delivery not too long ago after sending Adam a text about how much she missed him and how her being at Maggie's made it at least little easier to deal with as it kept her busy.

Jade accepted the card that she was given by Georgie and read it. "Merry Christmas to my special girl," she read, making choking sounds. "Barf…"

"Come on; you have to admit it's sweet of him to send these flowers for me even if he's in Toronto himself," Georgie said as she snatched back the card from Jade's hand, "I mean; how many guys would do that."

"Yeah, I guess, whatever," Jade replied, shrugging. She knew Georgie was over the moon about Adam, but she really wasn't interested hearing how amazing boyfriend he was right now, "Do you know what time we get off?"

"You got plans, or something?" Georgie asked, placing the flowers aside so she could get back to work. Lou might have gone out for a while, but Georgie was willing to bet that as soon as she would stop working, her mother would come back inside again and scold her for not doing anything. That's what she had done all morning.

"Not really. Gonna spend the evening alone at the trailer, probably eating the soup and watching Christmas specials," Jade said, looking around. The diner still had few people lingering around, enjoying their free coffee and pancakes. Maybe she wasn't the only lonely one in Hudson after all.

"That's ridiculous. Why don't you just go to your mom's?" Georgie asked, placing clean mugs under the counter.

Jade now lived on her own at Caleb's old trailer, but her mother, Tricia, still had a place in Hudson and probably would have been okay with Jade visiting during Christmas.

"She has that new guy over, and I'll practically be invisible. So, no thanks."

"And your dad?"

"There's no way I'll make there on time, and besides, I really don't want to spend Christmas with him," Jade explained, "But don't feel sorry for me, Kid, I'll be okay. I guess I've gotten used to it by now; Christmases just haven't been the same ever since my mom and dad got divorced, and I've sort of made peace with it. To me, it's just like any other day in a year, except more quiet and everyone else is busy. Besides, my parents feel so sorry for me that they just give me money to feel better about themselves, and I'm all about that life," she grinned a little at the end of her sentence.

"Still… You could come to Heartland, I'm sure everyone would be okay with it," Georgie suggested, "and besides, we have better food there than your soup."

Jade almost seemed offended, "Have you tasted the soup?"

"No, but it looks gross," Georgie replied, frowning.

"I'll have you know that it's actually very nutritious, not to mention really delicious," Jade said, sounding like something straight out of a commercial. Then again, she was the spokesperson for Chuck Wagon. "Come on," she then continued, pushing herself back from the counter and stepping down from the chair she had been sat on, "Prepare to have your taste buds blown."


	4. Chapter 4

"Katie, honey, why don't you come and decorate the tree with the rest of us," Tim tried to wheedle the little girl who had just thrown a tantrum after looking outside and realized there was still no snow.

"No!" Katie said determinedly and slammed her bedroom door shut.

Tim sighed and touched his forehead out of frustration. He loved Katie to bits, but sometimes when she wasn't getting her way and acted like this, it was really hard to keep calm and deal with it.

Not to mention, he himself wasn't feeling the best, so how was he supposed to make anyone else feel any better when he was irritated himself.

"She doesn't want to," Tim made a comment to Casey who had just put up the Christmas tree with Caleb to the corner of the living room.

"Kind of sounds like someone else I know…" Casey noted and laid out some of the Christmas decorations Lou had gotten yesterday from the Quonset house.

Meanwhile Caleb was making sure they were seeing the good side of the tree, because if they didn't, they would have to do the arranging and decorating all over again.

"What does that mean?" Tim asked, frowning. It seemed that Casey was giving him a hard time.

"Come on, why don't you wanna decorate the tree? It'll be fun," Casey replied. She had asked Tim to join them before he had asked Katie, but he had refused. But despite that, Casey was still optimistic that she would break him, as she often did.

"Decorating a tree is for children," was Tim's answer, "besides my shoulder's sore, remember?"

Caleb turned around and looked shocked. "Are you kidding me? Decorating the tree is one of the best part of Christmas!" he commented. "Right after the presents and food, of course." He grinned.

Casey walked up to Tim, still in hopes to persuade him. "I know your shoulder's sore, but you still have the other arm, don't ya? Come on, Grumpy. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"I'm in pain, Casey. The best thing for me to do right now is rest so I can get better sooner," Tim said surly, hoping Casey would back off. He loved the woman, but right now she was getting on his nerves with this whole Christmas nonsense. Tim just couldn't understand why she couldn't leave him alone and just do whatever she was doing with Caleb.

Casey looked at Tim, her smile dying as she was evidently hurt. This was their second Christmas together, and since the last one had been terrible, with them being broken up, Casey really had wanted to make up for it this year.

She knew Tim could be grumpy sometimes - okay, most of the time - but usually she was able to soften him up a bit. But for some reason it seemed like that was not going to work today. Maybe the pain of his shoulder was getting too much.

"Fine. Be that way," Casey replied, turned around and started decorating the tree with Caleb.

That was until Caleb got a text that he read right away.

He sighed as his eyes scanned the words on the screen of his cell phone. "This can't be happening…"

"What is it?" Casey asked, glancing quickly his way, while trying not to take Tim's attitude personally, even though the disappointed still lingered above her.

"It's Cass. She says she has an emergency surgery with Scott and can't make it here," Caleb told her, gently squeezing his phone out of frustration as he clenched his jaw. "It's starting to sound like she's not even trying to make an effort… Maybe you were right, Casey. Maybe she really doesn't want to spend Christmas together."

"Well, this could be just a coincidence," Casey said, carefully laying the decorations on the branches as she talked, "Christmas is a busy time for everyone in that kind of line of work." She knew there was a chance she could be right, but Casey was also aware that she could be very wrong too.

After all, she didn't know Cassandra like Caleb did.

"I know, but I…" Caleb sighed, "I guess I'm beginning to wonder if this is how it's going to be like for us always. She's working and I'm alone. Here I thought I was going to be the busy one; I always feel guilty for being away for such long periods of time while I'm on a circuit, but she's always said she's been fine it. What if she's so fine with it that she doesn't even really miss me? What does she even need me for?"

"I think those are questions you really have to ask her," said Casey. As much as she would have wanted to help Caleb, only Cassandra knew what was going inside her head.

"Maybe I will. Maybe I'm going right now," Caleb decided, thrusting the phone back to his pocket as he started to make his way to the door. "You got the tree now, so you'll be fine, right?"

Casey looked after him, her mouth a little open as she wanted to protest but didn't know if she could. This seemed important for Caleb. Yes, she did have the tree now, but she had no one to decorate it with. Jack and Lisa were still in the loft, Katie didn't want to participate, Tim was not co-operative and there was no one else around here.

But maybe she had the least problems from the bunch, so instead of arguing, Casey said: "Yeah, I'll be fine. You just go."

"Thanks, Casey!" Caleb shouted as he was already out the door.

For a while there was no other noise but the ticking of the clock on the wall. Casey fiddled the Christmas bauble in her hands and then let her eyes drift to Tim.

"I guess that just leaves us," Casey said, hoping that Tim would stop acting like a jerk. If he couldn't even play nice with her, who was to say he wouldn't start fights with the other family members too. Casey really didn't want that for them. "Tim… what is really bothering you?"

Tim got defensive right away, "Why do you think something's bothering me?"

"I can see right through you," Casey reminded. "Is it the shoulder?"

Tim sighed, turning his gaze away. Casey sensed he wanted to say something, but something else, possibly his pride, was in the way. As he pursed his lips together, almost as if fighting to keep the words back, Casey could no longer take it.

"Just talk to me."

"It's Shane…" Tim finally admitted.

"What about him?" Casey asked curiously. She had never met Tim's illegitimate son, but apparently Tim did not see him that much either these days, so she could not really expect that to change just for her. Casey was fine with Tim having children of his own, especially as Lou and Amy both were charming young ladies, so Shane was probably a nice young man as well.

Besides, it was no secret that she and Tim both had had lives before each other, so Casey didn't want to act all hypocritical whenever Tim brought up topics from the past.

"He didn't send me a Christmas card this year…" Tim said, feeling stupid for saying it out loud. He realized it probably didn't sound like a very good reason to be this mad, but no matter - it was what he had on his mind.

Casey looked at Tim, trying to get more out of him. "Oh…?"

"He always sends me at least a Christmas card. Maybe that's a little sad, especially because I hardly ever see him, but… in a way it's kind of the highlight of my year, every year to see that he still cares, that he stills thinks of me despite being busy. Even if I'm not in his life for 364 days of the year, at least there's one day that he remembers me… But now… I don't even have that," Tim explained, looking down as he got more emotional. "What if this keeps going? What if he completely writes me out of his life?"

Casey walked up to Tim, setting the decoration in her hand aside. She was now more understanding, as she began to unravel the mystery behind Tim's attitude.

"Well who's to say only he has to reach out to you?" Casey asked. "Do you ever write him cards?"

"Well, no, but… it's too late now. It's Christmas Eve. As you heard from Lisa, mail's not getting through," Tim pointed out.

"I know, but have you ever heard about these things called phones…?"

Tim looked Casey into her eyes and knew he was being an idiot. For some reason, he had always expected Shane to reach out to him because he was the child, but maybe it wasn't fair of him to leave it all up to Shane.

After all, he missed his son just as much.

"Okay, maybe I call him," Tim decided then, letting his eyes drift from Casey to the tree as he let that decision settle in. His eyes got more focused now and Casey knew she was about to hear some snide remark. "That tree looks much better from the other side. I swear Caleb could use an oculist. I'm surprise he can even tell a cow from a horse…"

This was his way of easing the tension and making himself feel more comfortable whenever something emotional came about.

Casey chuckled and glanced at the tree. "Yeah, maybe we should see if it works better with the other side facing here…"

* * *

At the hospital, Ty was at the counter - where he had already been so many times before. The baby still hadn't stopped crying, and Amy was close to tears too. The more time passed, the more the new parents started to get worried about the baby.

"Excuse me…" Ty was trying to get the nurse's attention. It was almost hard for her to hear him when the waiting room was full of crying children, arguing families and other noises. "Sorry, but… we've been waiting for almost an hour now…" he explained to the nurse, whose gaze he was finally holding.

"I know, but as you can see, we are busy. There's not enough staff to take in any more patients at the moment. So if you could just return to your seat and kindly wait till you're called, sir," the nurse said politely.

Ty could sense that the nurse was saying her lines almost as if it she was in a scripted play and he did have sympathy for her in times like these, because a lot of people in the waiting room were just as impatient as him and kept pestering her with the same kind of questions, but he still had to try, for the baby's sake and Amy's too.

"I get it, I do, but we have a baby who hasn't stopped crying for almost a day now, and his stomach feels hard and–" Ty was starting to explain their situation.

"Is he vomiting?" the nurse asked.

"No," Ty shook his head.

"Has there been any bowel movement?" the nurse continued.

"I don't… I don't know, I'm not sure," Ty had to admit. He could recall Amy saying something about checking the baby's diaper and that not being the problem, but whether had there been any poop at all today, he did not know.

"Well, why don't you try to find that out while you wait", the nurse suggested, "the doctor's probably going to ask you the same thing."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks."

Ty then returned back to Amy and the baby. He reached out his arms so he could take turns soothing the baby.

Amy handed him to Ty and sighed. "What did she say…?"

She was hoping the nurse could have given them some hope with getting in, as it would have been easier for them to know when it was happening rather than waiting in this room with no idea when the doctor would even see the baby.

"She asked if there's been any bowel movement," Ty replied. "I said I didn't know. You do, right?"

"I don't remember…" Amy said. "I can't remember if I changed his diaper today or yesterday, I just remember I changed it…" She felt angry at herself for being so tired that time didn't make sense to her anymore.

Ty kept shushing the baby and when he pressed the infant against his shoulder, he quickly checked his diaper with a sniff. When he could not smell anything, Ty took a peek only to discover there was nothing in the diaper.

"Well he hasn't pooped now…" Ty said, wondering if maybe he had a problem with that. "It's okay, boy… You're going to be okay," he then murmured, hoping that the baby would stop crying.

The wailing only made them feel more helpless. But he also understood that it was the baby's way of telling them that something was wrong as he could not speak yet.

"I don't think all these loud noises are helping. I think it only makes him more restless," Amy expressed her concerns and shook her head, "it's making me nervous and when I'm nervous, he can sense it."

"Why don't you get some fresh air. I'll stay with the baby. I don't think we're getting in anytime soon anyway," Ty suggested.

"And what if you do…?" Amy asked.

"Then I'll handle it," Ty promised. When he saw the look of insecurity on Amy's face, he knew he had to say something, "Amy, you've done your best. You know that, right?"

"It doesn't feel like it…" she said, pouting a little as she wiped a tear of frustration from her eye. "He's still so new to me. I mean, I thought getting to meet him after nine months, I would just… know who he is, how he's like. But I still don't. I don't know what to do to help him."

"You will. I know you will", Ty sounded sure. Becoming a parent was like learning any other thing: the more time you spend being one, the more you learned about all this stuff - and one never stopped learning. "This is new for both of us, but we learn as we go. We learn together. Okay?"

"Yeah…" Amy said, even though she wasn't sure about it at all. But right now she was too tired to argue about anything. All she wanted was for the baby to be okay, but it seemed like it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Not until they would be called in by the doctor anyway.

"Now, get yourself some water or something. I'll handle this in the meantime," Ty promised. He was just as exhausted as Amy, but it did no good if they both crashed when the baby needed them the most, "and, Amy… I love you."

"I love you too," Amy said as she got up, "and I love you too, Nuggett," she leaned over and gave the baby's head a kiss. Amy gave Ty a peck as well before she started looking for bathroom so she could get cleaned up a little.


	5. Chapter 5

As Jack pulled out the turkey from the oven for the stuffing, he took a long sniff of the air. Lisa watched him over her cell phone and smiled. Jack could be so silly sometimes, but it only made Lisa fonder because things like this, the little joys of life, were big joys to Jack and it helped her to appreciate them more too.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about…" Jack said, pleased with the results. He put the turkey on the table and made sure that it looked like it was supposed to after being in the oven for four hours, "Alright. I think it's time for the stuffing."

"You want some wine? I could use some wine," Lisa declared, putting down her phone as a sign of defeat. She had a habit of enjoying a little wine while cooking and now that more hours had passed without any word from the post office, she had decided that it was time to give up. Wine was a way for her to feel a little comfort. "I will borrow some from Ty and Amy… I'll just buy them a new bottle later," Lisa talked to herself and went for their food cabinets.

"I guess I should start looking for a new oven after the holidays," Jack said when he rolled back his sleeves, "as much as I find that oven of mine easy to use, I have to admit, this new one Ty and Amy have isn't that bad… At least I am able to make a mean turkey with it!"

"Good thing I was here or you wouldn't have known how to use that thing," Lisa said lovingly, recalling the moment they had gotten here and Jack had stared at the buttons like he was supposed to pilot an airplane all of a sudden.

"Yeah, we're a good team," Jack admitted, smiling. "And I would learn, you know?"

Lisa took out the bottle of wine and found them some glasses.

"I guess if you really want to, you do learn," Lisa commented, but was still clearly lost in thought.

"Anything from the post office?" Jack asked, then washing his hands.

"Ahh…" Lisa made a noise, "I give up. This… is me giving up," she said, pouring herself a glass of wine, "I guess Christmas is cancelled on my part; no presents from me."

Jack knew how Lisa was with gifts and how big of a deal that was for her. He wanted to comfort her in some way, even though he knew words wouldn't quite do the trick. "I think everyone will be understanding. It's not like it's your fault they made a mistake at the post office."

"Everyone maybe, just not Katie. She's going to devastated!" Lisa worried, pouring Jack a glass of wine too. "How can I explain to her that Santa forgot to give her the one thing that she wished the most? What will she think of Santa? I don't wanna crush her dreams…"

"Yeah, that will be hard to explain, but… Santa's only human too," Jack replied, reminding Lisa to go easy with herself. She had had the best intentions, but things had just not worked out this time. "Besides, you'll get that stuff eventually, and Katie's going to appreciate it all the same. We can just explain to her that Santa dropped it from his sleigh on his way here," he suggested.

"Speaking of sleighs; there's still no snow, and you know how much she loves that white stuff," Lisa kept piling up the worries before she put the cork back in the bottle and took a sip of wine, "I just wish there was a way we could still make this all magical for her. She's still so innocent..."

As Jack was listening to Lisa talk, he had a thought. "Well, I might not know Santa, but I know someone who might be able to help us bring Katie a white Christmas…"

* * *

Cassandra pushed open the vet clinic doors as she entered the office so she could get started with the paper work while Scott was finishing up with the patient in the OR. She was still mentally operating, her mind going over what they had just achieved with the animal and how she would write that in the charts to document it all.

When she tore off her scrubs and threw them into a bin, Cassandra was startled by a figure by the cages. "Caleb!? You scared me!"

The man turned toward her, looking relieved that he was finally able to see his girlfriend after a long wait.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you", he apologized, looking at Cassandra and the scrubs she had just threw into a bin. "So… you actually did have to do an operation," he murmured, partly to himself, and looked surprised, almost as if he had been sure he would be able to caught Cassandra on a lie.

"Yeah. I told you, didn't I?" Cassandra reminded him, walking to the table to get the patient's sheet so she could start filling it in, "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at Heartland."

"Well, I was, but… I just wanted to see you. It sounded like you weren't going to make it out of here tonight, so I came here so we could even have a chance to spend some time together," Caleb explained himself.

Cassandra looked at Caleb, almost not believing what she was hearing. "Wait a minute… when did you even get here?"

"After you sent me the text about the surgery."

Cassandra looked baffled. "That was hours ago!?"

"Well, like I said, I missed you," Caleb shrugged. "And I just wanted to ask you something. About us."

"Caleb, I'm working. I told you," Cassandra reminded him, staying strictly professional while she was at work. It was not like she wasn't still on some kind of "mental probation" with Scott despite being a DVM now. She couldn't afford any screw ups if she wanted to keep her job.

Besides, she was up to her elbows with work and she really didn't have time for Caleb's questions - unless they had to do with Shorty or Rusty, his horses.

"I know, but… it'll only take a minute, depending how you'll answer."

Cassandra sighed and looked at Caleb. "What is it?"

"What's with you and working on Christmas?" the man asked.

Cassandra squinted her eyes, not following Caleb's train of thought. "What do you mean?"

"This is your third Christmas in a row when you're working," Caleb pointed out, "First time, I got it, we weren't that official yet, the second time I guess I gave it a pass because I knew Ty had worked hard for days and deserved some time off, not to mention, it was around the time of his anniversary, but now… I guess I'm just beginning to think that you really don't wanna spend your holidays with me."

Cassandra shook her head a little and started to fill up the sheet like they would have been done with the conversation, "It's not about you."

"Then what is it?" Caleb wanted to know.

"I don't do Christmas. I don't care about it. It's far too commercial holiday - and besides, I have no relation to it. I'm an atheist," Cassandra explained. She didn't understand why that was such a big deal for Caleb.

Caleb felt a little lost. Cassandra made it sound like those were the only two reasons to enjoy Christmas. "Yeah, but… you can still take some time off, right? We don't have to go to church or buy presents, we can just spend time together. That's what Christmas is to me."

Cassandra decided it was impossible to get the sheet done with Caleb around, so she put it on the table and walked over to Caleb.

"I'm at work on Christmas because it gives me a nice bonus," Cassandra continued with her explanation, "I don't know if you knew this, but vet school wasn't cheap. I'm still paying back my loans. One day, I'd really like to live in a nice apartment where I don't have to worry about freezing to death or hearing my next door neighbors having fights. Like I said, I don't care about Christmas, so in my eyes, this is just like any other day in a year - except I get a lot more money. So, why wouldn't I be working on Christmas?"

"Because… you have me?" Caleb gave her an option.

Caleb held Cassandra's gaze for a long time before she sighed.

"It's not like I don't wanna be out with you, Caleb, it's just that I'm busy. It might not be ideal for being in a relationship, but I have certain goals in my life and I'd like to achieve them in the near future. I can't let my relationship get in the way of that and drop everything here. I promised I would handle the clinic tonight. I feel guilty for even paging Scott to help me with the emergency surgery. It's hard for me to explain, but… I screwed up many times on my way here, and I really don't wanna do that again. I wanna show everyone that I can do this, that they didn't give me a second chance for nothing. I hope you can respect that."

"Yeah, okay, I get it," Caleb said, understanding it better now. But there was still something bothering him, "I just wish… we could spend more time together."

"Well… maybe we can," Cassandra figured. She looked around, looking for inspiration, "You could help me around here."

Caleb's face lit up. "Really…?"

"Yeah. We gotta take care of the animals. Like I said, things don't just stop here just because it's Christmas. We gotta keep doing our job."

"Okay, so - what can I do…?" Caleb asked.

"You can start out by checking that every pet in those cages has water." Cassandra motioned toward the cages occupied by dogs, cats and even some rabbits.

"On it," Caleb said like a scout.

Cassandra smiled a little, actually not minding having company as Scott would be back with his family soon anyway. She was actually glad Caleb had come here because even though she had volunteered tonight, she still thought that she and Caleb didn't get to spend enough time together due to their busy schedules.

But now they could kill two birds with one stone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning:** _This is such an odd "warning", but... if you aren't too fond of reading about baby poop, then you might want to skip this chapter!_

* * *

Lou turned off the OPEN sign at Maggie's and looked outside. The streets were starting to look emptier, and even though it was gloomy outside, the many Christmas lights on the windows of the shops down the street made it a little bit more magical.

Jade and Georgie were now on their way to Heartland - with the food that Lou had made at the diner for their Christmas dinner - since Jade was done with handing out the soup and Lou no longer needed Georgie at the diner either since there were no customers to serve. Georgie had invited Jade over so she wouldn't have to be alone for Christmas and Lou had approved of the idea; there was room to accommodate her for few days.

After the hustle and bustle of the day, Lou enjoyed the silence in the diner. The day had been a success and she was taking her time, basking in the feeling of knowing she had done something good for people who had needed it. While she was putting the chairs up on the tables, Lou decided that this should become an annual thing for Maggie's because even though they lost financially, they gained so much more by putting smiles on people's faces.

Besides, one day didn't matter in the great scheme of things.

When Lou heard the bell of the door chime, she didn't bother to turn around to see who it was, since she was in the middle of cleaning up.

"Sorry, but we're closed for today," Lou apologized.

"I know, but I was hoping you would have some coffee to warm up my frozen limbs," she heard Mitch's voice.

It made her turned around, just in time to see how he was taking off his cowboy hat and smiling at her absentmindedness. She noticed his ears were red from the cold and he was making sniffling sounds as he had been standing on the other side of the street with the kettle for hours. It made Lou feel sorry for him, so she didn't want to turn him down.

Today was all about helping other people feel good after all.

"Oh... Well, okay," Lou said, stopping what she was doing and feeling her heart beat faster as she started to feel Mitch's presence in the room, "but I must warn you; that coffee has been standing there for over an hour now, so it probably tastes like crap by now."

"I'll take my chances," Mitch said, just wanting something warm in his system.

Lou walked behind the counter and took the pot from the coffee machine, hoping her hands would stop fidgeting. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? It wasn't like she didn't see him daily, as Mitch was Heartland's ranch hand and he helped Grandpa and Amy with the chores.

So maybe it was the fact that they were completely alone and she was basically forced to talk to him.

Lou turned around, noticing Mitch had laid his hat on the table and he was now taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"Do you want sugar? Milk?" Lou asked.

"Nah, just black, thanks. So... how was your day?" he asked when Lou pulled a cup from under the counter, placing it before him, and started pouring coffee in it, "I couldn't help but notice this place was packed throughout the day. Not to mention the block long lines for the soup."

"It was great," Lou said, smiling, taking a little pride from what she had achieved today, "Lots of people got fed. - How about yours? I saw you outside with the Salvation Army kettle..." she continued casually, keeping her eyes on the mug that was filling up.

"It was my first time doing it, and it felt good," Mitch admitted. Even though he had been back at Hudson for over a year now, it wasn't until now that he was finally feeling like he was settling to the community. Maybe it was because of what had happened to his cousin, Zack, that he had kept his distance from the people in the town, "I might be a little bit frozen-"

"More than a little bit," Lou noted when his hand brushed hers as she moved the cup closer to him.

Mitch laughed.

"Yeah, I guess more than a little bit," he finally agreed. "But it's worth it. Also, gave me an excuse to see you and wish you Merry Christmas."

His eyes lifted from the cup and met Lou's. She looked back, feeling the chills down her spine - and these were not due to his touch, or maybe a little bit, but not because of the obvious reason.

"Does there has to be an excuse...?" she found herself saying before she could even think what would come out.

Mitch laughed a little, "With you there has to be it seems, Miss Entrepreneur. You're so busy these days that I have to seize the moment when I see it fit."

Lou turned around, pouring the rest of the coffee down the drain when she no longer needed it, and thought about what Mitch had said. Now that she was face to face with Mitch, she had to confront her own feelings for him. She could run and deny their chemistry all she wanted, but right now, standing here, it was starting to get harder and harder to fight.

"Maybe it's not just because of the whole New York thing that you're not seeing me much," Lou admitted and turned around, "I have been avoiding you."

Mitch looked surprised that Lou would admit such thing. "Why? I mean, I know, you're busy with your life right now, but we can still have conversations, right? We don't have to make it out to be anything you don't want it to be," he said, "We can be reasonable about this."

Lou looked at Mitch. His eyes were sincere and his smile was tender.

"Can we...? I mean every time I'm telling myself to think with my brain, my heart just takes over and I find myself... kissing you," Lou said, feeling embarrassed, "And as much I like that, I just feel like it only makes everything more confusing for me. And maybe for you too, I would assume."

Mitch looked thoughtful before he replied, "I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I enjoy having you in my life," he shrugged, "yeah, you might be a little bit weird-"

"Weird?" Lou echoed, almost insulted, but not really.

"Well, in a good way," Mitch tried to recover, grinning as a way of letting her know he had not meant it to sound as bad as it probably did to her, "but you keep my life entertaining. And I like that. Because after I came back from the tour, my life's just been this... stale line. So, to me it's stupid that we would let this... possible romance thing get in our way. I don't wanna lose what we could have as friends just because we could be more than that too. I just want to have you as my friend, that's all."

Lou nodded, now understanding where he was coming from.

"I do admit... that's part of the reason I've been avoiding you. I feel like just because we have this chemistry, that there's this pressure to make this into something, and I'm just not ready yet. And I thought maybe you had expectations about that, but I'm just not ready," Lou explained, looking him into his blue eyes, "So that's why I've been trying to minimize being around you, because I don't want to give you any false hope. I'm a mess right now, but that's just comes with this phase of life, I guess. What I'm saying is... I want to figure myself out first before I get into anything. And even after that, who knows if there are any guarantees that I would be ready for a relationship. I might change, so I might not even be there same person I am now- actually, I will definitely not be the same person, because that's the whole point of growth. So... I don't wanna keep you waiting, especially if you won't feel the same way about me when I've moved forward with my life. You deserve better than that."

"Okay, so... we're not trying to make anything happen, we'll just enjoy each other's company?" Mitch checked, getting a nod of approval from Lou, "Just friends?"

"Just friends," Lou confirmed, "Although, that does make it sound like friends aren't as important as romantic relationships, which I don't necessarily agree with. Friends are important."

"I agree, that's why I wanna be your friend," Mitch said, taking a sip of his coffee, but almost immediately feeling like he wanted to spit it out, "Okay... you were right. This does taste like crap..." he said, looking at his coffee mug like it had betrayed him.

Mitch's facial expressions made Lou giggle. "Could I interest you in hot chocolate instead?" she offered.

"Yeah, hot chocolate sounds good."

"Okay, sit tight, I'll be right back with it", Lou promised.

* * *

In the hospital, Ty, Amy and their baby were finally in the pediatrician's room. The baby was still crying, and even though he was in the good hands of Dr. Adler, Amy and Ty were still worried.

What if she found signs of something serious?

"I would say he's constipated," was Dr. Adler's diagnosis after keeping them in suspense, "This is very common with infants, so you don't have to worry. I know the crying is obvious clue that something is wrong, but you should also monitor his poop. I know it's not the most pleasant thing to do, but when he's pooping regularly, it's a sign that he's taking in enough food and disposing the rest."

Both Ty and Amy nodded in almost in unison. Even though it didn't sound as serious as they had feared, they were still worried about the baby.

"You're breastfeeding, right?" Dr. Adler checked from Amy.

"Yes," she replied, insecurely, "Though, we use formula sometimes."

"Okay," Dr. Adler said and was silent for a while when she was getting the baby dressed again, "Constipated babies don't really have that liquidy, seedy, pasty stool, but their poop is almost like little clay balls. But when solid foods enter the picture, you should be prepared to the frequency, form and color to change again," the doctor explained, "Like I said; monitor the poop."

"So how many times a day should he be pooping?" Ty wanted to know.

"Average three to four times a day, and after the introduction to solid foods, which you'll probably be doing soon, that reduces to approximately one bowel movement per day," Dr. Adler continued.

"Why is he even constipated in the first place? What should we be on the lookout for?" Amy wanted to be prepared in the future, so the baby wouldn't have to be in pain anymore. Maybe she had done something wrong, maybe they shouldn't use the formula as much. After all, Lou had said something about how they should favor breastfeeding.

"It could be the formula because it can firm up the poop more, but it could also be milk-protein allergy or intolerance. You should consider the amount of dairy in your own diet as it can pass onto the baby through the milk," the doctor said.

Amy knew Dr. Adler was just telling her how things were, but it still made Amy feel like a failure.

Ty noticed how Amy was almost chocked up and he squeezed her shoulder gently to let her know that she shouldn't blame herself for this. They were both learning this stuff and there was no way for them to know this without ever coming across with something like this before.

"So what do we do about it?" Ty asked when Amy seemed like she was ready to go somewhere and cry.

"Change of formula or Mom's diet can help. You should start from there," Dr. Adler said, "And if it doesn't look like he's pooping properly after five days, you come see me."

"Thank you," Ty said, "We'll try those."

* * *

As Ty and Amy came out of the room after a while, both of them were quiet. Ty was holding the baby, while Amy had her arms around herself. They were walking toward the waiting room and there was strange tension in the air. The crying of the baby stopped at times, as it seemed like he was getting tired at this point, but he still seemed miserable.

"It's my fault. We should just stick to the breastfeeding at all times," Amy started the verbal self-blame, "And I should reduce the dairy in my diet."

"Hey, hey," Ty was trying to hold her back when it was starting to seem like Amy was starting to break down and her self-blaming was only going to make it worse. He stopped her so they could face each other. "You heard the doctor; she said that we can still use formula, but we just might have to change it to some other brand. Besides, you're so tired sometimes that I think it's better for you to get that time for yourself and not have him attached to you when I can do the feeding with the formula."

Amy sighed heavily. She knew Ty was trying to help, but she didn't know if Ty could imagine how she was feeling because she was the mother. "I feel so much pressure, so much depends on me..." Amy admitted, close to tears. She bit her lip to hold them back.

"You're doing great, Amy, you are. This is just a small set back. The baby will be fine. There's no way you could have known this - and besides, you've followed those books and articles Lou has given to you and still - this happened. You've done your best," Ty said.

Amy sighed heavily again and looked down.

They stood there for a while, Ty looking at her and Amy staring down as her tears of frustration started to drop. The baby's cry was getting weaker and weaker, and over the crying, they could hear Christmas carols coming across the hallway.

As a surprising turn of events, the baby soon stopped crying.

When he got silent, Ty and Amy looked at each other and then the baby, almost in shock. Amy hurried to see if everything was okay with the infant, wondering if he had just fallen asleep out of exhaustion, but he was still awake, fiddling the fabric of Ty's jacket.

"He stopped crying..." Amy stated, feeling conflicted.

"Yeah... He looks still grumpy, but... he's not crying," Ty was amazed. 'O Holy Night' was echoing through the hallway, making the moment even more surreal. "You don't think... it's the Christmas carols...?" he gave his best guess.

"I don't know..." Amy replied, thinking maybe it was too weird of a coincidence if it wasn't so. It seemed like the baby was listening carefully, "Why haven't I thought of that now; soothing him with singing..."

While she had been pregnant, Amy had often pressed Ty's headphones against the belly and played the baby some music. It had seemed to calm down the kicking, and Amy had often thought that the baby would probably grow up to be a big music lover just like she and Ty were.

After the birth, she had sung lullabies to the baby - Ty had too sometimes - but lately she had been so tired that she had not done that as much.

"Well now you know. And now you know how to soothe him..." Ty said, hoping Amy could focus on the new discovery instead of what the doctor had said, even though Dr. Adler had not even said the things she had to place the blame.

Amy looked at the baby, feeling relieved. "You like that, don't ya?" she spoke to him, then deciding to sing along with the carols. The baby stared at her, looking sleepier by the minute.

"It's working..." Ty whispered, grinning out of excitement. He looked at the baby and then Amy, lovingly.

When the baby finally closed his eyes, Amy pressed a kiss on his forehead, then looking at Ty with happiness written all over her face. "I can't believe he's sleeping peacefully."

"See? You can do this. You got this."

"No..." she shook her head, inching closer. "We got this", Amy corrected, kissing Ty.


	7. Chapter 7

"The turkey's here!" Jack announced as he and Lisa returned to the house from the loft with the cooked bird. The warmth of the house felt good after they had walked across the yard and having welcoming faces inside the house made it even better.

Georgie and Jade were sat in the living room, playing a game of "Guess Who?" over the round table while Katie was setting tea cups for Casey and Tim who were sat on the couch.

Casey had been able to draw Katie out of her room after they had finished the Christmas tree. It looked so magical that the woman had figured that Katie would like it; it wasn't snow, but at least it was something.

Eventually Katie had been in a better mood and had decided to bring her tea cups to the living room so Casey and Tim could enjoy their tea while watching the pretty tree. She even pretended to have ginger bread for them.

"How's the turkey, Jack?" Tim asked when he couldn't contain himself any longer. He wanted to know if Jack had failed or if the turkey had turned out to be eatable. The fuss the old man made about it was hardly worth the taste, but at the same Tim wanted to let him have it as this was - for some reason - one of the highlights of Jack's year every year.

"You're about to find out," Jack said from the kitchen. He chuckled to himself, already feeling sure that this year he had made his best turkey yet with the help of the cook book he had gotten from Lisa earlier that year.

"Wow, the tree looks amazing!" Lisa commented when she walked to the living room. She admired it for a while and when she saw Katie out of her room, she exchanged thankful looks with Casey.

Casey smiled, mouthing, "You're welcome" back.

"Caleb texted, said he's not coming," Tim told Jack and Lisa, "so one less plate to set on the table."

"Did he say why?" Lisa asked.

"Apparently, he's spending Christmas with Cassandra," Casey told her. Lisa looked surprised as Caleb had said earlier in the day that Cassandra was working. Casey saw Lisa's confusion and explained further, "He's helping her out at the clinic. So, they'd have a chance to be together this Christmas."

"Well that's great then," Lisa said, feeling relieved that Caleb was okay and he was getting what he wanted, "Georgie, any word on your Dad?"

Georgie flipped down one of the plates on the game board as she had been able to eliminate all the people with glasses after asking her question from Jade. "He won't make it. He couldn't get on a flight so now he's driving here," Georgie explained, looking like she was disappointed.

It made Lisa look at her sympathetically, "That's a shame. - So... how many plates do we need...? Let's see..."

"Should we count Ty and Amy too?" Casey asked as she had not heard a word about them ever since they had left to the hospital.

"Ty sent a text, said they are on their way from the hospital," Jack told everyone. "Everything's okay with the baby, so I think they'll join us."

"So that would make... ten plates, if I'm right. Georgie, Jade, Tim, Casey, Ty, Amy, Lou, Mitch, Jack and I," Lisa counted. "Yes, ten. - Casey, can you help me set the table?"

"Sure, absolutely," she said, giving Tim's cheek a kiss. "Call Shane," she whispered as she got up.

Tim looked at her and got nervous. He wanted to call Shane, but what if the boy was busy and he would just make a fool of himself? What would he even say?

But at the same time, Tim knew he couldn't let Christmas Eve go by without any contact with him.

Meanwhile Casey followed Lisa to the kitchen and started taking out the plates.

"What happened to Tim? He seems to be in a better mood," Lisa had to pry. When they had left to the loft, Tim had been the crankiest he had been in days, but somehow now that they were back, he was back to his usual self - slightly cranky Tim.

"He is," Casey agreed, "I solved the mystery, so he even helped me decorate the tree - well, by handing out the ornaments." She wanted to be worth of Tim's trust, so she didn't get any more into it, and thankfully Lisa was accepting of that.

Jack was checking the food Georgie and Jade had brought from the diner and decided which would need heating in the loft, when Tim walked to the mudroom.

"I'll be outside, making a call", he announced.

Jack didn't know how would he be calling at this hour, on Christmas Eve nonetheless, but when Casey looked pleased about Tim's announcement, he figured it couldn't be anything bad. For some reason, he just needed some privacy.

"Do you need help with your coat?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, if you won't mind," Tim agreed.

"No, I don't mind at all," Casey said, walking toward Tim.

It was Jack and Lisa's time to exchange surprised looks. When Tim had gotten to Heartland, he had not even accepted Casey's help and now he was like a different man.

Maybe it was the magic of Christmas - or just love - that had made it possible.

* * *

On the road, Lou was following Mitch's truck to Heartland. She was feeling better about their current status as friends and it felt like she was ready to celebrate Christmas now, without anything weighing on her.

But when Mitch took a turn on the right when he should have taken the left, Lou got confused. Mitch knew his way to Heartland, so it couldn't be that, and even the gas station was in the other direction, so what on Earth was he about to do?

Contemplating whether to go to Heartland on her own, Lou looked at the tail lights of Mitch's truck. When his truck was about to disappear to the darkness of Hudson, Lou decided to be a good friend, so he turned right as well, following him to whenever he was going.

Friends looked out after friends, right?

When Mitch finally pulled over after a five minute drive, Lou steered her truck after him. She looked around, wondering what they were doing at the gates of the Hudson cemetery.

As Mitch stepped out, Lou unbuckled her seat-belt and stepped outside too.

"You followed me," Mitch noted when Lou shut the truck door. He didn't sound mad, more like surprised, which made her feel better.

"Yeah, I didn't know where you were going, so I figured I'd stick around in case you need my help, or something," Lou said, wondering if Mitch would think of her silly.

The man looked at the cemetery gates, wondering if he would let her in, figuratively speaking, but seeing as he had already did that several times and she knew about this anyway, Mitch decided to say:

"Okay, well, you could help me with something."

"Oh? What is it?" Lou asked, locking the doors of her truck when it seemed like Mitch was pulling something out of his passenger seat. She took out her gloves and put them on as the temperature was probably getting below zero about now.

"You'll see," Mitch said mysteriously.

After a short walk at the cemetery, Mitch stopped and looked like he was trying to remember something. He counted the graves based on some tree and then decided to turn left. Lou read the names from the headstones, still wondering what they were doing here, but at the same time she trusted Mitch to have a good reason to be at cemetery at this hour.

"It's beautiful here with all the candles," Lou commented when she felt awkward just being silent. She looked around, seeing the flames of hundreds of candles, showing her that so many people had loved ones that were no longer with them, but were still on their mind. It made her think about her mother, Marion, and how she had always said winter was her favorite time of year, because that's when they didn't have any flies.

A faint smile formed on Lou's lips as she felt closer to her mother just by remembering that.

"Yeah... it is," Mitch said, finally stopping over one headstone.

Lou stopped too and read the name. "Zachary Cutty," she said silently to herself. Why was the name so familiar? Cutty was Mitch's last name, but... Zachary... What was the relation?

"Hey, buddy," Mitch said, planting his hand on the stone as he looked at the engraving, "I know it's been a while and I know I should've come see you earlier, but... I'm here now."

Lou looked at Mitch as he was talking to the stone like he would be talking to a friend over a beer.

Then it hit her. Zack must have been short for Zachary, and that was the name of Mitch's late cousin, the one who had served with him in Afghanistan. This was him visiting Zack.

"Anyway... I brought a friend with me. Her name's Lou. She's pretty amazing," Mitch said and looked a little flustered even, almost like he was ready for Zack teasing him about it. "She's part of the reason why I haven't been around. I started working at her Grandfather's place, and she knows how to keep me busy..."

It made Lou smile because she felt she was part of something very personal for Mitch. She looked at the name again, thinking that these two men must have had amazing relationship while Zack has still been alive.

"And maybe I had some personal stuff to deal with too," Mitch admitted, feeling bad for putting it all on being busy with the ranch work as it wasn't the whole truth, "Miss ya, man."

Lou could see Mitch getting choked up before he turned his head toward her.

"Could you help me with the candle?" he asked then, pulling out a candle from his pocket, "If you could just hold it while I light it?"

"Yeah, sure," Lou said, coming to help him with it, "And thank you... for allowing me to come with you," she said when they were closer. In the light of the match, he saw Mitch's features soften as he smiled a little bit in a very vulnerable way, "It means a lot."

"You're welcome..." Mitch said.

And in that moment, Lou really felt what it was to be someone's friend.


	8. Chapter 8

After the dinner, everyone at the Heartland house were scattering to their own little corners to celebrate Christmas. Casey and Tim bid their goodbyes and left to Big River to enjoy their evening together. They promised to be back in morning, when everyone - except for Lisa - would hand out their Christmas gifts to each other.

While Casey was driving, Tim was mulling over his phone conversation with Shane. The boy had been surprised to get the call, but based on the way the conversation had went eventually, he had been happy that Tim had reached out to him.

 _"To be honest... I was starting to feel like maybe it was getting pathetic how I always sent you a card even though we don't really keep in touch," Shane had said._ Tim couldn't deny that that had hurt him - and the worst was that it was all on him. _"Like, maybe you were just trying to have your life without me in it, and I was this annual reminder of something that was not part of that life."_

When Tim looked at Casey, he got to thinking how he had even given Shane the impression that he didn't want him in his life - as it was unintentional. Miranda had moved on, and just because he had too, it didn't mean that Shane was no longer his son and important to him.

Maybe it was his bitterness with Miranda that had made him neglect Shane as well, but the boy was not to blame for the choices that he and Miranda had made. Now, when the dust had settled, Tim could finally admit that he had been too hard on Miranda. It was good that she had moved on and found the man of her dreams because it would have been stupid to hang onto something just because they had a son together.

Not mention Miranda moving on also meant that Tim had had space for Casey to occupy.

"Case..." Tim broke the silence.

"Hm?" Casey said, lost in thought.

Tim could feel himself getting more nervous, but then again this was Casey he was talking to. "How would you feel about having Shane over here for New Year's...?"

The oddness of Tim's question made Casey turn her head.

"Really…?" Her voice was kind and her lips formed a smile, which gave away the fact she was excited.

Casey was surprised that Tim would let her in on that part of his life as it was usually not something he liked to talk about. "We'd actually get to meet each other?" she asked.

"Well, I figured it's time," Tim said carefully, hoping he wasn't pushing his luck. He had lost Casey once; he didn't want that to happen again.

"I'd love that," Casey replied, without giving it much a thought. She felt in her heart it was something she wanted, "If that's okay with him, it'll be okay with me."

"Okay. Then... I'll ask him," Tim concluded, feeling relieved that he had had the guts to suggest it.

Casey checked that the road was clear before she directed her eyes to Tim. She was proud of the step Tim had taken and the new path he was starting because of the phone call. It felt like it had been long time coming.

* * *

Back at Heartland, Lou put Katie to bed and decided to help Mitch with the horses as Ty and Amy were busy with their baby. When Mitch had bought her the horse Venus for Dude Ranch, Lou had become more interested about horses again. As life had gotten busier and her priorities had been elsewhere these past ten years, she had left that part of her behind, but now, she was starting to remember how much she had enjoyed it once.

This also provided an opportunity for Jack and Lisa to finish the bottle of wine Lisa had found from the loft, as they were sat on the couch, listening to the fire crack in the fireplace.

Up in Georgie's room, she and Jade were getting ready for bed. It had been a long day and they were both exhausted, so after Jade turned on her other side on her temporary bed, she fell asleep. Georgie tried to stir up the conversation, but as she heard low snoring, she figured it was useless.

As she turned off the lights and watched the moon shine through the square window, Georgie thought about her dad. She had to admit that she was angry at him for not coming home sooner and spending Christmas Eve with them. It made it seem like he didn't care, like it was a drag to come here from Vancouver.

As she heard footsteps coming up to the attic door, Georgie closed her eyes and pretended to sleep since she was not in the mood for talking to anyone anymore, especially if it was Lou, trying to make excuses for Peter again.

She heard whispering and the other voice definitely belonged to Lou as she heard the door creak open and Lou saying: "I think she's asleep."

What she did not expect to hear was Peter's voice replying back.

"I just want to give her a kiss. I drove all night for that."

Georgie listened carefully, still keeping her eyes closed. Sensing he was leaning closer, Georgie really tried to look like he was dead to the world as Peter pressed a kiss on her hair.

"Goodnight, honey..." Peter whispered. "I'll see you in the morning."

He then turned around and walked out of the room. Georgie heard the door shut silently and when she was sure Lou and Peter were gone, she opened her eyes and stared at the door.

He had made it. He was here.

Georgie felt more happy than she had felt for a while. She wasn't sure if anyone was even aware about how much this meant for her, but maybe she would at least tell Peter tomorrow.

Getting a kiss of goodnight from her father helped Georgie soon fall asleep.

* * *

In the loft, Amy was watching the baby sleep. She knew he didn't need any more soothing, but Amy kept rocking the cradle gently and singing him a lullaby.

"You know he's already asleep, right?" Ty asked as he was coming out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth.

"I know, but I just love doing this. Especially now that I realize how important it is to him", Amy said. Ty came to spoon her up, giving her cheek a kiss as he enjoyed the view. It was good to see Amy excited about motherhood again. They still had challenges ahead, but at least she wasn't being so hard on herself anymore.

"Hey, I almost forgot with all the stress and hurry", Ty then realized, stepping away so he could get something from his vet kit. Amy looked after him, curious to see what he would pull out of there. "It's for our tree."

He had found it from Hudson after work one day while he had been looking for a present for Amy, so naturally he had put it in his vet kit as it was one of the places Amy didn't know to look for anything.

"Oh?" Amy said, walking toward the tree they had set up few days ago.

"You can open it, because it's not technically to you", Ty said, getting up and handing out a little box to Amy. Amy looked puzzled, glancing at him quickly, wondering who it was for then and how come she could open it. "Open it", he encouraged her with a gentle laugh when she looked suspicious.

Amy then opened the lid and noticed there was a beautiful Christmas ornament inside. It was red and had something written on it. Amy pulled it out so she could get a better look.

" _Baby's First Christmas_ ", she read and could have almost sworn her heart expanded twice its size. "Ty, I love it..." Amy said, then giving Ty a kiss. "It's beautiful."

"I thought we might want something to remember this Christmas by", Ty said, acting all modest. Amy seemed pleased and for Ty, it was the best Christmas gift itself. "So... what would be the perfect spot for it?" he then asked, looking at their tree.

"How about... in here?" Amy suggested, showing a place near a horse figure and a star.

"Looks perfect", Ty said. Amy placed the ornament on the branch and then stepped back so she could admire it under Ty's arm that he automatically crossed over her shoulders. "Merry Christmas, Amy."

"Merry Christmas, Ty", Amy said, turning her head so they could kiss.

* * *

Next morning, after breakfast and gifts, everyone was getting ready to go outside. No one - except for Jack and Lisa - knew what was going to happen, but they had wanted everyone to be there for this, so the whole family just did what they were told and got dressed warmly.

When they had been standing in the yard for good fifteen minutes, everyone was starting to get impatient.

"So where is this surprise again...?" Tim asked. He didn't like standing around, doing nothing, especially in this type of weather.

"Just wait, it shouldn't be long now", Jack asked for his patience - which he knew was a lot to ask from Tim.

Meanwhile, Amy was sharing everything that had happened the night before with Lou and the big sister was relieved to know that the baby was already feeling a little bit better. He was still crying a lot, but that morning - as Amy told Lou - there have been few "clay balls" in his diaper.

"Never thought I'd say this, but I've never been more happier to see poop", Amy added, making Lou laugh. The younger sister looked at her sleeping baby in the babywearing, feeling like things were getting better already.

Georgie frowned at their topic of conversation and shook her head in disgust.

"Can we just go and take Phoenix and Trouble for a ride with Jade?" Georgie wanted to know from Jack, trying to forget what she had just overheard. If they were not going to do anything, then she wanted to do something useful instead.

"No, I want you here too-" Jack was about to explain when Lisa interrupted him.

"There they come!"

Everyone turned their heads to see what she was talking about. They saw a small transportation of some kind coming along the road. It took them a while to realize that it was a carriage pulled by a little white horse.

"Who is that...?" Jade asked when she couldn't tell who the horse belonged to.

"Is that who I think it is...?" Amy asked from Ty, turning toward him and Peter.

"I think so..." Ty replied as his mouth curved into a smile.

Lou looked surprised too. "Mrs. Bell...?"

When they were on the hearing range, they could all hear Mrs. Bell laugh as she steered her little appaloosa, Sugarfoot, toward them. She was like a ray of sunshine in her warm looking big coat and homemade red woolly hat.

"Sugarfoot!" Katie yelled, seemingly excited.

"What is this...?" Casey was curious to know. She remembered meeting Mrs. Bell at Amy and Ty's wedding, but she wasn't sure what was the meaning behind this gesture.

"Well, as you know, Katie is really sad that she couldn't get any snow, so I remember how much she enjoyed the sled rides with Sugarfoot last year. And I know that Mrs. Bell not only has a sled, but a little carriage too, so she could just take Katie for a spin with it too - no snow needed", Jack explained.

Lisa leaned against her husband and placed a hand on his chest proudly. "Talking about the real Father Christmas..." Her eyes sparkled as she watched her husband fondly.

It made Jack chuckle.

Meanwhile, Ty and Amy were welcoming Mrs. Bell to Heartland. "It's good to see you, Mrs. Bell", Ty said, but was soon silenced by the old lady.

"I'm no Mrs. Bell; I'm Mrs. Clause!" she declared. And just when she announced her new name, they all realized her carriage was full of gifts, no doubt things she had made herself to share with everyone.

"Really?" Katie asked, honestly surprised by what she was hearing.

"Yes, my dear", she said, leaning closer to the little girl. "My husband, Mr. Clause - being the silly old man he is - had completely forgotten to bring these gifts to you last night, so I offered to bring them to you now", Mrs. Bell explained patiently to Katie.

Lou and Peter exchanged amused looks as Katie looked like she was buying it.

But there were questions on Katie's mind that still needed clarification. "So how did Santa make it here last night since there was no snow?" Katie wanted to know.

"Well, he used my pony, Sugarfoot, and this carriage. Would you like to hop in?" she asked.

"Yes!" Katie shouted, hardly containing herself.

"Let us help you with the gifts", Jack offered, coming to lend a hand. While he shared the presents with the family, he also thanked Mrs. Bell for saving Katie's day. Lisa too felt like she couldn't have ever given Katie a better gift than this.

When the rest of the family went to sit on the porch so they could open their presents, that had things such as homemade strawberry jam, honey, socks and sweaters, Lou and Peter handed them warm tea.

They all watched how Katie was driving around the yard with Mrs. Bell and Sugarfoot and felt the relief as they realized that despite it looking like the Christmas could have been ruined in many ways, it was actually shaping up to be a really nice one.

Everyone enjoyed the joyous screams Katie kept making, but what made it even better was the snow that started falling down from the sky...

 **THE END**


End file.
